Parque de Bombas
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Coordinates: 18°0′42.54″N 66°36′49.64″W / 18.0118167°N 66.6137889°W
Parque de Bombas (Spanish for Park of Pumps) is a historic firehouse building in Ponce, Puerto Rico. It is one of Puerto Rico's most notable buildings and it is located at the town square - Plaza Las Delicias, - directly behind the Ponce Cathedral. The building housed the city's main fire station for many years, and it is now a museum. Its name comes from the mobile hand-pumped fire fighting units the building once housed. It has been heralded both for its historical and architectural roles in Puerto Rican society. It was Puerto Rico's first ever fire station [1]
[edit] History
Around 1882, the Spanish government (of which Puerto Rico was a territory) recognized the need for a fire station that could address the needs of Ponce's increasing population. A Spanish Army soldier, Lt. Colonel Maximo de Meana y Guridi [2][3] who happened to be a professional architect, was commissioned in Puerto Rico at the time. The Madrid-based central government gave Meana the assignment of designing and constructing the building, which was first used late in 1882, in time to host that year's Puerto Rican agricultural convention. The festival's participants used the building as its main pavilion. The first brigade of firemen to work in the building were stationed soon after.
In 1883, a large fire threatened the lives of those living in southern Puerto Rico, as well as the economy of Puerto Rico as a whole, given Ponce's de facto role as the Puerto Rico's banking and agricultural capital. The firemen stationed at the Parque de Bombas engaged in a long fight with the fire, taking twenty-two days to extinguish the blaze. For that, the group was honored many times both in Ponce and the rest of Puerto Rico.
In 1885, the station went on to be officially named Ponce's fire station, thus every firefighting operation in Ponce and adjacent towns was dispatched from the Parque de Bombas. Meana was soon named mayor of Ponce[4]. Later on the building was painted in Ponce's traditional city colors, red and black (as were a series of homes towards the western part of the city that were built as housing for many of Ponce's firefighters, who lost their own homes to the blaze).
The station continued to serve the city of Ponce until 1990, lasting a total of 108 years as a fire station. On that year the station's fire-fighting duties were fully transferred to another nearby station, and the building was officially converted into a fire-fighting museum. Nowadays, a photo of the 1883 firefighters hangs on the walls of the Parque de Bombas building. In 1983, the 100th anniversary of the brigade's victory over the infamous fire was commemorated at the station. Various artifacts used by the 1882 fire brigade are on display at the current museum. Among these are some artifacts used to combat the 1883 fire. There are also artifacts of historical significance. Even before its 1990 closure, the station had already become a major tourist attraction, and some of the firemen would give visitors free station tours voluntarily when they were not attending emergencies. The Ponce firefighters' museum is still known generally as Parque de Bombas and, according to some estimates, it is one of Ponce's most visited tourist atractions.
[edit] Architecture
The Parque de Bombas building is located in what is known in Puerto Rico, Spain, and most of Latin America as a town plaza. A town plaza's layout usually includes water fountains, trees, benches, and walkways flanking a catholic church. The Parque de Bombas itself is adjacent to Ponce's Roman Catholic cathedral.
The station-turned-museum reflects the architectural style of 1880s Spain. It is mostly made of wood, and it resembles a Gothic castle or a Spaniard mansion of that era. The station is painted with red and black stripes. Two stairs that are located on opposite sides highlight the entrance to the museum. Tourists can observe firefighting technology on the building's second floor.
- ^ [1] Retrieved June 28, 2009.
- ^ [2] Retrieved June 28, 2009.
- ^ [3] Retrieved June 28, 2009.
- ^ [4] Retyrieved June 28, 2009.
